On Oct. 5, 1962, the first Bond film, Dr. No, hit theaters. Five decades and 22 films later, the spy has been immortalized as a legendary screen hero. TIME has compiled the most interesting stories, anecdotes and tidbits from the franchise

Solid Gold Factoids

Gold must be James Bond’s favorite element: it appears in the titles of three Bond movies. So here are some gold-plated Bond facts for you to take a shine to:

Ian Fleming wrote the Bond novels on a gold-plated Royal typewriter. It was sold at auction in 1995 for £50,000.

The Goldfinger producers wanted to base their Fort Knox set at the real site but couldn’t get access from the government. They built a good-guess replica at Pinewood Studios — though there’s one part of the gold-filled location for which they had to use their imaginations. Because of the element’s physical properties, it can’t be stacked in piles more than two and a half feet tall. But in order to make a more impressive set for a climactic scene, production designer Ken Adam used a chrome framework to stack the gold 40 ft. high.

In what is perhaps the most famous image from Goldfinger, Tilly Masterson dies of skin suffocation after being painted gold. This method of murder was supposedly inspired by the real-life death of a Swiss model, accidentally killed during a photo shoot. Because of fears for the health of actress Shirley Eaton, a doctor was on call, and the golden girl wasn’t painted entirely gold. Eaton’s stomach was left bare; she also wore pasties and thong underwear. But the worry was unfounded: you can’t actually die that way. (Check out Mythbusters for proof.)